Choosing restaurants that have the best banchan is almost as difficult as deciding whose mom makes the best kimchi. It all depends on personal preferences, tastes and biases.

The little side dishes that come out at every Korean restaurant are called mit banchan(which loosely translates to “bottom” or “base” banchan), and make the foundation for every meal. Practically anything served with rice is called banchan, except the soup. Kimchi is banchan. That meat you’re cooking on your table is technically banchan. Even the ubiquitous serving of potato salad is banchan.

In Korea, the banchan that make their way to the table are based on what’s in season. There’s always some kind of kimchi, some kind of namul (sauteed vegetable) and a variety of other pickled or seasoned things. In Los Angeles, the type and flavor of banchan will vary depending on what region of Korea the owner is from, the culinary whims of the chef — and what’s available that day.

The practice of serving large numbers of banchan started as a symbol of wealth during Korea’s imperial history. By the way, it’s generally considered bad luck in Korean culture to serve banchan in even numbers, except for the royal table when at least 12 banchan were served.

Soban — Known among Koreans for their ganjang gaejang (soy-seasoned raw blue crab) and the galbi jjim (soy-stewed beef ribs), Soban sits in an unlikely corner of Olympic. Thirteen square dishes grace the dining table at Soban, ranging from steamed egg, a namul dish made from parsley and a peppery celery. The owner is from Jeolla-do, the province of Korea known for their generous number of side dishes and the subtle flavors of their food. 4001 W. Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, (323) 936-9106, sobanusa.com.

Western Doma Gooksu — Like most hidden gems in Koreatown, this location is tucked away in a strip mall between Beverly and Melrose. A small menu features the usual top Korean culinary hits, including the kalgooksu, the handcut Korean “knife” noodles referred to in the name (“doma” means cutting board, “gooksu” means noodles). The carefully made banchan keep bringing back the regulars. The potato salad is no surprise, but the seasoned peanuts and dried roots are unusual guest stars on the table. Service will be slow because the owner does the cooking, waitressing and serving. But if you were eating at your favorite great aunt’s house, you wouldn’t rush her either. So, imagine your Korean grandma is bringing out the meal, and just enjoy your complimentary ddeokbokgi (spicy rice sticks) while you wait. 429 N. Western Ave., Suite 10, Los Angeles, (323) 871-1955.

Mapo Kkak Doo Gee — K-Town regulars come in for the lunch specials on weekdays, since they’re such bargains. Although they’re only listed in Korean on the exterior, the small selection includes kalgooksuand bibimbap (a mixed rice bowl). Everything on the menu is served with a nice array of banchan. Of course, you’ll get their namesake kkakdoogi (the hunky cubes of radish kimchi). The selection may also include soy-stewed potatoes, seasoned seaweed, steamed cabbage leaves with a side of seasoned dwenjang (fermented soybean sauce) and, of course, their version of the potato salad. 3611 W. 6th St., Los Angeles, (213) 736-6668.

Jun Won — Stepping through the back door of Jun Won feels just like entering ashikdang (restaurant) in a back alley somewhere in Chungcheong-do, where the owner’s mom was from. Inside also feels like the old country, as grandmas and grandpas converse quietly over spicy stewed seafood or a bubbling stone pot of dwenjang jjigae(fermented soybean stew). The seven bowls of banchan may seem small, but they’ll keep filling your bowl as long as you ask. Just be sure to polish off your whole grain rice, since it’s considered rude to leave bap (rice) in your bowl. They have a complimentary parking behind the joint, right off of Catalina. 3100 W 8th St., Suite 101, Los Angeles, (213) 383-8855.

U2 — In the sea of all-you-can-eat BBQ joints that dot the Koreatown landscape, U2 stands out for its big and varied banchan “salad” bar. The variety of self-serve options range from fried sweet potatoes to California rolls. The giant vat of dwenjang (fermented soybean paste) is only dwarfed by the larger container of kimchi. The selections will vary by day, but the best part is not having to wait for your server to come back to get your fill of kongnamul (soy bean sprouts) or shigeumchi (spinach). 3377 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 732-9293, u2ayce.com.

Genwa — If there were a contest for the greatest number of banchan served, Genwa would win hands down. So many round dishes arrived at the table, that we didn’t even fault the server for getting a couple of descriptions wrong. When serving 12 side dishes is considered the mark of a royal table, twenty-three may seem excessive. But they’re small. The selections may include egg-battered Korean ham, a chilled glass noodle with krab, pickled perilla leaves, tiny anchovies, mook (a Korean gelatin with seasoned soy sauce), and a variety of kimchi. If you ask for seconds, be sure to remember which ones you wanted. Your server won’t remember either. Two locations. 5115 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 549-0760; and 170 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 854-0046,genwakoreanbbq.com.

The famous Ramen Burger has hit LA several times now, most recently at the DTLA Night Market, but it looks like Keizo Shimamoto is looking to make his signature creation a staple here in SoCal.

Ramen Burger LA’s new location will take over a walk-up window in K-Town currently known as Stall 239. The stall serves fusion style grub to night owls wandering the streets of LA but will serve favorites from Shimamoto’s menu, including his new Ramen Fries, during two soft opening events on July 5 (1:00PM-6:00PM) and July 13 (2:00PM-8:00PM) ahead of its August 1, 2014 official soft opening.

The location is fairly small so we’re assuming lines these next two weekends will be pretty long for the East Coast transplant. Hopefully Shimamoto gauges how to deal with the crowds before the first Ramen Burger LA location opens.

Koreatown in Los Angeles used to be like an inside joke: if you were in on it, you felt undeniably cool, and if you had no idea what this sprawl of urban life was about, the town was somewhat befuddling and unwelcoming. The neon diaspora of foreign Hangul signage has generally produced more confusion than curiosity, and so Koreatown, with its all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ joints, secret after-hours nightlife, and the pockets of Latino and Bangladeshi communities was, until recently, not the easiest place to navigate without the help from someone on the inside.

The Next Frontier

“EVERYONE ON THE OUTSIDE OF THIS ETHNIC HUB IS CLAMORING TO BE ON THE INSIDE.”

“Koreatown is like the next frontier in Los Angeles,” says Ted Vadakan, half of the husband-and-wife duo that founded the LA-based shop/gallery, Poketo, which just opened its second location at the new Line Hotel in Koreatown. “It has a great nightlife, delicious food, and a lot of hidden gems—but, it’s also a bit of the unknown for a lot of Angelenos.”

Now, it has slowly come to the attention of many an Angeleno that the joke has actually been on them for some time. “We’ve been special. Everyone just took their time figuring that shit out.” says chef and Kogi Taco master Roy Choi, who was approached by the Sydell Group (the guys behind The NoMad and Ace New York) to head the eats and drinks program at the Line Hotel. Now, in true spirit of true “fomo” (fear of missing out), everyone on the outside of this ethnic hub is clamoring to be on the inside. Lucky for them, they’re being ushered into an era where this town is embracing and abridging the onslaught of attention, all thanks in part and parcel to the flood of cultural PR—from the globalization of kimchi to the phenomenon of Korean pop culture.

However, what these outsiders are initially drawn to is not what they’re discovering. This town isn’t only about the dank and pungent fermented cabbage or people that look and have moves like the ubiquitous ‘Gangnam style’ star: instead, they’re being introduced to a trilingual community—where you can hear English, Korean and Spanish, and sometimes an amusing blend of all three—and a new creative and cultural force spurred on by this diversity.

The Line Hotel Lifestyle

“SYDELL GROUP FOUNDER, ANDREW ZOBLER, SET OUT WITH THE IDEA OF CREATING A GATHERING PLACE WHERE THE LOBBY WOULD BE AN EXTENDED LIVING ROOM FOR THE ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD.”

The Line Hotel is the first lifestyle hotel of its kind to draw upon the social fabric of Koreatown, intentionally translating the quirky and unfamiliar aspects of this metropolis into a community experience that pays homage to the Korean and Latino communities. Sydell Group founder, Andrew Zobler, set out with the idea of creating a gathering place where the lobby would be an extended living room for the entire neighborhood. It’s where you’ll witness the intersection of worlds: old Korean men brandishing copies of The Korea Times traversing paths with hordes of horchata drinking hipsters (who are mentally jotting down a few fashion pointers or two from their elders).

The Poketo team, Vadakan and his wife, Angie Myung, were tapped alongside Choi to join the impressive roster of LA creatives that are converging at the Line Hotel. “We considered it an amazing opportunity to acquaint people to this part of LA,” says Vadakan. “The Line is a true collaboration [between] Roy Choi, Sean Knibb, the Houston brothers, and Poketo. It nurtures an environment where we are collectively brainstorming and collaborating on things together. The synergy alone between us all, there’s no stopping us.”

The Koreatown Comeback

“THE TOWN NOW BOASTS THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION OF RESTAURANTS AND NIGHTCLUBS IN ALL OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, AND A BIG PART OF THAT COMEBACK HAS BEEN THE CULTURAL GRIT IN EMBRACING OF ONE OF THE MOST MULTIRACIAL CITIES ON EARTH.”

Choi, who has founded his success on the Korean Taco, shows another feat of cultural symbiosis at his new hotel restaurant, POT. It’s food that is markedly Korean, but the nuances are Choi, through and through. The mood is set by ’90s hip-hop music, and hipster servers donned in floral prints usher you into a no-frills space. On the menu, you’re faced with a picture of a Korean grandma nonchalantly puffing the magic dragon, priming you for what’s to come in the pages to follow. There’s the standard fare of banchan and galbi, and then the signature dish whose moniker has become a 420-friendly innuendo: the spicy Korean hotpots. The most popular of these is “The Bootknocker,” a hotpot which includes instant ramen, Spam, corned beef hash, pork sausage, rice cakes, fish cakes, tofu, and a sprinkle of greens on top–a literal melting pot of everything in Choi’s pantry. He creates a space for outsiders in this cuisine to explore with ease without forgoing the culinary narrative at hand. And besides, you can’t get more Koreatown than eating kimchi and instant ramen accompanied by uncensored Tupac lyrics.

However, this open door policy was not always the norm. If anything, the same diversity that inspires so much of Koreatown today was actually the bedrock of violence during the Los Angeles riots in 1992. What started out as a reaction to police brutality violently spun out into a free-for-all that drew the participation of all different ethnic groups; Korean small businesses were robbed and burnt to the ground, and with the LAPD and National Guard unwilling and unable to control the chaos, the community was wrecked by the emotional and financial damage. Today, all of that seems like a distant memory.

The homecoming of The Line hotel leaves no trace of a town that was once devastated by anarchic mayhem a mere 20 years ago. Its introduction serves as a subtle reminder of the redemption and progress that has culminated into this creative expression of community, an expression that finds significance in the differences of its people. “As long as the Koreans, Latinos and Bangladeshis live here,” says Choi, “it will always be K-town.”

The town now boasts the highest concentration of restaurants and nightclubs in all of southern California, and a big part of that comeback has been the cultural grit in embracing of one of the most multiracial cities on Earth. “Change mixes things up, it can enrich a community, it can increase diversity,” says Vadakan. “Koreatown will continue to be a melting pot, not unlike Los Angeles, not unlike this country.”

So, without further delay, welcome to a town where cultural collisions run as deep as they run high. Koreatown has finally arrived, and it’s about damn time.

Check out Los Angeles pop-rap outfit Far East Movement‘s “The Illest.” While the first video debuted last summer, the sequel shown here continues the group’s humorous stance, drawing inspiration from the riots that occurred in Koreatown, LA in 1992. Watch the clip to find Far East mobbing in all-black attire, with guest feature from the always-entertaining RiFF RaFF alongside a cameo from Snoop Dogg.

In L.A.? Head down to Koreatown to check out SPAM N EGGS? TokiMonsta, Dumbfoundead and Far East Movement have joined forces to throw an epic party in KTown next week, with sets by Antiserum, Two Fresh, Rell the Soundbender, ESTA and special guests. It’s happening Thursday, November 21 at VIBE in Koreatown, Los Angeles.

Here is a great article on the KCET (Southern California’s PBS entity) website regarding the path of Asian Americans in film and tv over the last 15 years, including interviews with directors Quentin Lee and Justin Lin. As many know, Justin Lin (who has directed four films in the Fast and the Furious franchise) made his initial mark as the director of the groundbreaking Generaxian-X film, Better Luck Tomorrow (featuring The Fast and the Furious‘ Sung Kang, and Star Trek‘s John Cho).